PIT-UN News

Essay by Justin Pelletier, director of the GCI Cyber Range and Training Center, published by PIT Cases. 

RIT has received a Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) Challenge grant to help people underrepresented in the computing workforce launch new careers in cybersecurity.

A new option for co-op experiences at nonprofits is part of a pilot program being developed by a College of Art and Design faculty member. Professor Susan Lakin said the aim of the program is to both fill a need at nonprofits for digitally fluent staff and to provide an important experience for students interested in working closely with community organizations.

Paul Shipman, associate professor in the Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, is the principal investigator and will use the $45,000 grant to build a career placement/pipeline model and build a working group at RIT of students and faculty who desire to work in PIT within tribal communities.

As the 2020 election results come in Nov. 3, civic hackers at RIT want to remind people about the power of technology and how it can be used for good. At RIT’s Election Day Hackathon, students, faculty, staff, and community members will analyze civic problems in the local community, state, and country and propose projects to address them.

Toilet seats with high-tech sensors might be the non-invasive technology of the future that could help reduce hospital return rates of individuals with heart disease. A joint project by researchers at RIT and the University of Rochester Medical Center will determine if in-home monitoring can successfully record vital signs and reduce risk and costly re-hospitalization rates for people with heart failure. The five-year, $2.9 million venture is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Matt Huenerfauth, professor and expert in computing accessibility research, is part of a team that has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to use artificial intelligence to better understand the role of facial expressions in signed and spoken languages.

RIT is establishing Open@RIT, an initiative dedicated to supporting all kinds of “open work,” including — but not limited to — open source software, open data, open hardware, open educational resources, Creative Commons licensed work, and open research.